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May 10, 2013

Top Portfolio Products: New Target Volatility Portfolio From Fidelity

Invesco PowerShares adds to fixed-income line; more

New products introduced over the last week include a new target volatility portfolio launched by Fidelity Investments and a new emerging-markets local debt portfolio from Invesco PowerShares.

In addition, Prudential Retirement and Wells Fargo teamed up to offer Prudential’s guaranteed lifetime income solution to defined contribution retirement plan participants, and ING added a new investment strategy to its VUL and IRA mutual fund custodial account products.

Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:

1) Fidelity Investments Launches Target Volatility Portfolio

Fidelity Investments announced Thursday the availability of a target volatility strategy, the Fidelity VIP Target Volatility Portfolio. Offered exclusively through variable annuity and variable life insurance products, the portfolio seeks to manage total return volatility within a target range. The lead portfolio manager is Xuehai En, who has been with Fidelity for 19 years; Bob Vick is co-manager; he has been with Fidelity for 24 years.

Fidelity also said that Ohio National Financial Services and Jefferson National are the first insurance companies to package the portfolio in their annuity offerings, ONcore individual and group variable annuities (in New York, NScore variable annuities issued by National Security Life and Annuity Co.) and Jefferson National’s flat-fee variable annuity, Monument Advisori, respectively.

2) Invesco PowerShares Expands Fundamental Fixed-Income Line

Invesco PowerShares Capital Management announced Thursday the launch of the PowerShares Fundamental Emerging Markets Local Debt Portfolio (PFEM). PFEM is designed to provide investors fundamentals-weighted exposure to emerging-market sovereign debt denominated in local currencies. It has an expense ratio of 0.50% and is expected to issue monthly distributions.

PFEM is based on the Citi RAFI Bonds Sovereign Emerging Markets Extended Local Currency Index, which measures the potential return of a portfolio of bonds issued by the national governments of 18 emerging-market countries, all in the respective local currency. PFEM will generally invest at least 80% of its total assets in bonds that comprise the index. As of April 30, the index included bonds issued by the national governments of Brazil, Chile, China (offshore), Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey.

Prudential Retirement and Wells Fargo announced that they will make Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Co.’s guaranteed lifetime income solution, Prudential IncomeFlex Target, available to their more than 3,000 defined contribution retirement plans, covering more than 3 million plan participants. Prudential Retirement is a business unit of Prudential Financial, Inc.

ING U.S. announced recently that it has introduced a new investment strategy within its variable universal life (VUL) insurance and ING Select Advantage IRA mutual fund custodial account products. The ING Global Perspectives Fund (IAPVX), managed by Douglas Cote, chief market strategist at ING U.S. Investment Management, offers a balanced approach to asset allocation with a focus on broad diversification and tactical allocation changes based on key market drivers. The fund was available to ING U.S. Insurance Solutions VUL and Select Advantage customers starting May 1.

Within ING U.S. Insurance Solutions VUL products, the Global Perspectives Fund is available for both in-force and new policyholders who can place some or all of the cash value portion of their life insurance policy into the strategy. This approach may alleviate some of the concerns that market volatility creates and help round out a policyholder’s financial portfolio.